


Un sognatore, sai, non dorme mai

by KittyHawke



Category: Eurovision Song Contest RPF, Festival di Sanremo RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ermal is an insomniac, Fabrizio is a good friend, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Friendship/Love, Hints if you squint - Freeform, M/M, No Romance, One Shot, i think that applies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:53:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22682785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyHawke/pseuds/KittyHawke
Summary: Ermal is having a bad night, but better to have a bad night at a friend's house than alone.
Relationships: Ermal Meta/Fabrizio Moro
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Un sognatore, sai, non dorme mai

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know what this is. It's a just a very simple OS. It's my first time writing something based in the 'real world' so that's interesting. It's set a while ago so things are still quite platonic between the boys (although the line is thin) Anyway, I hope it's a decent read and if you like it, feedback would mean a lot to me.

Fabrizio leaned against the doorframe of the studio, smiling at the fluffy explosion of hair that sat at his desk. “You should sleep” he said gently.

“I’m not human, therefore, I do not require sleep.”

Fabrizio chuckled and crossed the room, leaning over Ermal’s shoulder. His arm quickly moved to cover the page, as if he was a child protecting his test answers from wannabe cheaters. Fabrizio slipped an arm around his shoulders and rested his head on Ermal’s, the thick curls acting as a sort of pillow. It was remarkably comfortable. After a few seconds without a response, he turned his head and left a light kiss in that soft, ticklish mass. It was becoming a more natural action and Fabrizio loved that he was allowed to do it now.

Ermal had been so standoffish when they met, perfectly polite and friendly, but with bristling thorns around him that warned anyone off getting too close. Fabrizio had tried to respect his boundaries, but he was affectionate by nature and spending so much time around Ermal while they wrote their song, he sometimes tended to forget himself. And then a remarkable thing had happened. Ermal had stopped flinching from his kisses and hugs, had gotten used to them and tolerated them, and then seemed to start liking them. He was the one who first gave Fabrizio’s hand an affectionate squeeze when they had made good progress on their work, the one who briefly put an arm around his shoulders, the one who had turned to Fabrizio at the end of a productive afternoon and asked “Did you hug me today?”

Fabrizio didn’t know whether he was responsible for this change in his behaviour. It was probably arrogant to think he was. Ermal might be as affectionate with his friends and family, but even that was a wonderful thought. Perhaps Fabrizio now counted among his most trusted people. He certainly hoped so. He had thought of Ermal as a good friend for months, so when the two of them were booked for an interview tomorrow, it was natural for him to offer his spare room instead of Ermal spending money on a hotel. However, his companion would not be at his best and brightest for that interview if he didn’t get some sleep.

“You’ve been at it all night. Take a break” Fabrizio urged, pulling the swivel chair backwards. Ermal whined and tried to grab onto the desk. “Just a few more lines…” he begged.

“You’re falling asleep.”

“I’m not” Ermal insisted, blinking his eyes wide open.

Fabrizio grinned at him. “How many nights did you stay over when we were writing Non mi avete fatto niente?” he challenged. “I know what you look like when you’re tired.”

Ermal pouted, but conceded the point. He stood up and stretched with a loud groan, and almost immediately yawned like a lion. “You know me so well. Goodnight Fabrizio.”

“Goodnight Ermal.”

He watched his guest walk into the spare room and close the door. The light underneath the crack remained on. Fabrizio looked at it sceptically and then closed his door, turning the light off and climbing into bed. Half an hour later, in the middle of a light doze, he heard the neighbouring bedroom door open and footsteps in the hallway. He waited to see if Ermal went to the bathroom and instead heard him going downstairs. After giving him five minutes to have a drink of water and return to bed, Fabrizio got up and followed him.

“You are caught” he said, finding Ermal sitting on the sofa in the living room. The younger man looked at him and gave a small smile.

“I can’t sleep.”

“Oh,” Fabrizio sighed sympathetically. “I have nights like that. Do you want some sleeping pills?”

“No, no sleeping pills” Ermal said quickly.

“What can I do for you?”

“Nothing. Just go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Ermal, you’ll be too tired for the interview if you don’t sleep.”

“I can’t sleep, Fabrizio. Didn’t you hear me? There’s no point in both of us being tired. Just go.”

Fabrizio instead walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa, earning himself an eye roll from Ermal. “What’s keeping you awake?” he asked. “Are you worried about going to Sanremo?”

“No,” Ermal shook his head, smiling. “I love our song. No matter what happens at the contest, we made something great. No, I’m not worried about that at all. If you want to know, I am just…My head is kind of fuzzy. Do you think I’m a better songwriter when I’m miserable?”

“I don’t think so,” Fabrizio said. “Misery takes away inspiration in my opinion. Look at me, the only thing I've managed to complete this year has been our song. Stress doesn’t agree with creativity.”

“Then I think I must be weird,” Ermal replied. “I want to write all the time. No, I need to write all the time. I feel like I’ll go insane if I don’t.”

“You’ll go insane if you keep writing at 2am when you have a 6am start” Fabrizio said gently.

Ermal rested his chin on his hand. “If I exhaust myself enough, I’ll sleep. I just can’t lie in a bed by myself, thinking about things.”

“Would it help if you weren’t by yourself?”

“Yeah,” Ermal chuckled sadly. “It would help a lot.”

“Then come and stay in my bed.”

“I can’t ask you to…”

“You didn’t ask. I offered,” Fabrizio interrupted. “You know, I don’t like sleeping alone either. It might help both of us.”

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

“Depends,” Fabrizio shot back. “Are you seducible?”

Ermal blinked, no doubt expecting a different response, and then grinned. “Remember when we first started working together, when you drove me back to the airport after the first visit?”

He did, but he said, “Remind me.”

“I asked who the third person was going to be and you wouldn’t tell me. Who was it, by the way?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I still think it was Simone,” Ermal muttered under his breath. “Anyway, I made an embarrassing joke…”

“You asked if it was all a ploy to seduce you” Fabrizio finished.

“Oh, so you do remember! Well, was it?”

“I said it at the time and I’ll say it again, there are easier ways of getting a date. Why are you bringing it up again?”

“I’m suspicious again,” Ermal teased. “You wanted me to help you write a song for three people, but the third person wasn’t informed and you asked me to come to your house and help you start writing it before he was. And then you get the bright idea to just carry on with the two of us. I don’t think he ever existed.”

“He existed.”

“And now you’re asking me to share your bed?” Ermal queried.

“To help you sleep,” Fabrizio warned. “There will be no funny business.”

“Pity. It’s been a while.”

He scoffed with laughter and shook his head. “You’re terrible.”

“But you like me,” Ermal stuck his tongue out cheekily and then his smile melted into something softer. “I’m glad I met you. You’re the only friend I have that I could make those kinds of jokes with.”

Fabrizio smiled back, wanting to reach out and put an arm around his shoulders, pull him into a hug and kiss his fluffy hair again. He just wanted to take care of him, he realised. He wanted to make him feel safe in his home. He wanted to be someone that Ermal could turn to and lean on when he needed to.

“How does your head feel now?” he asked.

“A bit better,” Ermal shrugged. “Mostly I just feel cold.”

Fabrizio touched his hand, only to check his temperature. “You are cold,” he confirmed. “Come on.” He tightened his hold and lifted Ermal to his feet, leading the way back upstairs. Only to make sure he got to bed and didn’t wander off again, of course, not because he liked holding his hand. That was a mere bonus.

A few minutes later, they were sharing Fabrizio’s king-size, large enough to strike the ideal balance between space and company. Ermal went very still as soon as he landed on the bed, apparently tired enough to get comfortable in any position. Fabrizio smiled at the back of his head and turned off the light. “Close your eyes and keep them closed” he ordered. Ermal hummed in agreement. Fabrizio turned onto his side to face him, amused by the sight of dark curls splayed across the pillow like small tentacles, and waited to hear slow and steady breathing.

“Stop staring” Ermal muttered.

“I’m not” Fabrizio replied defensively. It was a bad habit left over from his teenage years.

“Oh, sure you aren’t” was the sarcastic response. Fabrizio smiled and rubbed Ermal’s shoulder, a move which he’d always found comforting on difficult nights. “Is there anything more I can do?” he asked.

“No, this is fine. I just didn’t want to be on my own. It’s easier…you know, if there’s another person with you. It feels safer.”

Fabrizio shifted over and threw an arm over him, hugging him tightly, and then withdrew to let him have space. “You can sleep now. I’ll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you.”

There was silence, and for a second he wondered if he’d overstepped a boundary, before Ermal replied quietly.

“Thank you.”


End file.
